


Sanare

by TheMightyFlynn



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Comfort/Angst, M/M, Not Epilogue Compliant, Post-Hogwarts, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-23
Updated: 2013-08-23
Packaged: 2017-12-24 09:14:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/938207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMightyFlynn/pseuds/TheMightyFlynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco is a shy, second-year Healer student with confidence issues. Harry is a self-confident second-year Auror student. They haven't seen each other since Hogwarts, but are thrown together for an assignment they have to complete together. From Draco's POV as he wonders how to control his inconvenient reactions to Harry's presence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sanare

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so this is the first Drarry I have written that I have felt confident enough to post online. Comments and constructive criticisms are very welcome! Rated for some bad language, but there is, unfortunately, no sexy-times in this one. Have fun and I hope you like it! :D
> 
> EDIT: OK, so I was asked to edit this. Reading back on it, I can definitely see why. So, I give you the new and improved Sanare :)

Draco Malfoy sighed as he sagged back into the soft cushions of his favourite chair by the fire. This week had been one of the worst he had had since the end of the War. He had been working towards becoming a Healer for the past two years. After the War had ended, he had gone back to Hogwarts to finish his seventh year, and had wound up spending a lot of time with Madame Pomfrey in the hospital ward. She allowed him to help with some of the minor injuries the younger students came in with, since he had shown an aptitude for Healing spells. Draco, with her encouragement, had decided that he wanted to be a Healer, rather than follow in his father’s footsteps and work behind the scenes at the Ministry. His parents had both wholeheartedly agreed with his decision, even to the extent that they had helped him to find a small flat within walking distance of the entrance to St. Mungo’s, where much of his studies took place.

A small smile turned the edges of him mouth up as he thought of his mother’s reaction when he had told her he wanted to go to university. She had never been one for extravagant displays of affection but, this one time, she had ran to him and flung her arms around his waist, crying with joy, or relief, Draco had not known. Lucius had had a much more restrained reaction, but Draco could tell that his father approved, as he had been graced with one of Lucius’s rare, genuine smiles.

Draco knew that his parents had been worried about him, as he had become much quieter during his seventh year, thanks mostly to his losing a lot of confidence in himself due to the War. He was no longer the brash, cocky boy who had started at Hogwarts eight years previously, but had retreated into himself, shunning many of the friends he had made over the years and not really speaking unless he was spoken to. He had grown his hair as long as it was permissible for a Healer to have it, to just below his shoulders, with his fringe flopping down in front of his eyes if it wasn’t tied back. His mother had seen it for what it had been: an attempt to hide himself from the world. She had tried desperately to get him to come back out of his shell, but Draco had resisted with all his might. He liked where he was at the moment, with his own little place in the world, even if he did not have many friends left. In fact, he had only one whom he counted as a true friend: Pansy Parkinson had stuck by him through everything that had happened, and he was incredibly thankful to her for it. The only problem Draco could see with his life at the moment was the current project he was supposed to be working on.

As a second year Healer student, Draco had been assigned a second year Auror student to work on this project with, and had been horrified to find out he had to be working with none other than Harry freaking Potter. He had not seen Potter for two years, not since they had graduated, and had not spoken to him for a little longer than that. He did not know what to expect from Potter when he saw him, but he was fairly certain he knew what his own reaction was going to be. Draco had realised a little while after graduation that he was gay, having awoken in another wizard’s bed – sore, but extremely happy – after a night out on the town with Pansy. Pansy, of course, had not missed the fact that her long-time friend had left with another wizard, and had spent much of the past year trying to set him up with her cousin. Draco had had a string of one night stands – and occasional boyfriends – in order to avoid being set-up with Pansy’s cousin, but he was rapidly running out of excuses. He knew eventually he would have to at least meet the man, or find someone a little more permanent, especially considering Pansy was due to arrive at his house in a few hours’ time. Draco chuckled bitterly as this drew his thoughts back to his partner for this assignment. All he could really hope for was that Harry wouldn’t hex him, no matter how much he deserved it.

Groaning as he heaved himself up from the chair, Draco made his way to the bathroom. He had roughly an hour before Potter was due to arrive to discuss the assignment, and he intended to spend a lot of that hour soaking his aching muscles. Dumping his clothes on the floor as he walked, Draco turned the shower on as hot as he could stand and simply stood beneath the stream, head resting on the cold tiles in front of him. A hot shower was the best part of some days at the hospital, and this week had been no exception. As he had drawn runner duty this week, he had been sent from floor to floor delivering messages that were too sensitive to be sent by inter-departmental memos, like they did in the Ministry. This involved a hell of a lot of running, hence the name of the job, and Draco was incredibly glad to have simply lasted the week without collapsing from exhaustion. They had been informed at the start of their second year that one or two students every year had dropped out during their runner week, and Draco had been determined to make sure he would be fit enough to last out the week. He had made it, but was paying the price now, as his legs throbbed in time to his pulse. When the ache had died down a bit, he reached for the sponge and soap and began to scrub the hospital smell away from his pale skin. He decided to wash his hair as well, as it was already soaking wet, and to give himself another excuse to simply stand under the rushing water. Once he had run out of reasons to just stand there, he slowly dragged himself out of the shower, flicking his hand at the taps to turn them off. He towelled himself off and wandered into the living room, picking up his discarded clothes as he went.

He was by no means an exhibitionist, but he had always liked the feeling of being able to walk around his flat naked, which he proceeded to do until the warmth from the shower had dissipated. He moved into his bedroom and flung open his wardrobe. Dragging on a clean pair of boxers, he gazed vacantly at the piles of clothing in the wardrobe without any idea of what he wanted to put on. Pansy had always scoffed at the massive amounts of clothing Draco owned, saying that she should have known he was gay simply from the fact that he owned a larger wardrobe than her. Draco had always laughed the comments off but, looking at the piles of unworn clothing, he thought maybe she had a point. He reached in and grabbed the closest pair of baggy jeans, a pale blue t-shirt and an oversized flannelette shirt, dragged them on and wandered back out to the living room. He jumped as he heard the doorbell chime. Glancing over to the clock above his mantelpiece, he saw that Harry was right on time.

“Just a minute,” he called as he glanced quickly around the room to make sure it was clean. Deciding that it would have to do, he made his way down the narrow hallway and pulled the heavy front door open. What greeted him took his breath away.

Harry Potter stood on Draco’s doorstep, his emerald green eyes gleaming in the sunshine. He wore a pair of snug-fit dark blue jeans, artfully ripped just above the knee, a black Weird Sisters t-shirt, black leather jacket and black biker boots. His messy black hair stuck up at weird angles as he ran his hand through it.

“Hello, Draco. Long time no see.” His smile caused butterflies to stampede through Draco’s stomach.

“Potter,” Draco managed through the cloud of lust he suddenly found himself wrapped in. “Come in; grab a seat in the living room.” He stood back to allow Harry access to the small hallway. He had gained a few inches since Draco had last paid enough attention to him to notice, making him the same height as Draco, if not a little taller. Draco returned the small smile Harry offered as he closed the door. He had to make sure not to breathe in too deeply, as Harry’s oaky aftershave was making his head swim. He led Harry down the hallway, indicated that he should take a seat near the fire and moved into the kitchen. “Make yourself at home, Potter. Want something to drink?”

“I’d love a Firewhiskey if you’ve got one,” came the deep reply from the breakfast bar just behind where Draco stood.

Draco took a slow, steadying breath as Harry’s voice vibrated through his entire body, causing desire to pool in his stomach. He knew he had to get this reaction under control, as it would lead to a very embarrassing situation. He knew Harry could never be interested in him, so he simply had to learn to let go of this childish crush. He turned back to where Harry was leaning on the breakfast bar and handed him a tumbler of Firewhiskey.

“Thanks.” Harry took a small sip from the glass, his eyes widened and he placed it back down on the bar quickly with a small cough. “That’s... er... a little stronger than I’m used to.”

Draco smiled. “My father brings it back with him from Scotland whenever he’s there on business. Not many people can handle it; I’m surprised you didn’t spit it back out,” Draco trailed off as he caught Harry’s emerald gaze. Unable to hold it for long without blushing, Draco glanced down to his feet.

“Ok, look, Draco. I know there has been a lot of shit between us over the years, but we need to be able to work together on this. If you would rather I get myself reassigned...”

“No, no, I’m sorry, Potter. I didn’t mean to seem rude, it’s just...” Draco glanced helplessly at Harry, trying to find words to explain why he couldn’t bring himself to meet the other man’s eyes, but his mind failed him. Thankfully, Harry rescued him from having to continue.

“It’s strange having to switch from being ‘mortal enemies’, to having to work together in the matter of a few hours?” Draco could almost hear the quotation marks in Harry’s voice.

“Well... yeah, sort of. Look, Potter, I...”

“Harry.”

“I... um... excuse me?” Draco stuttered to a stop. His brow creased as he stared into Harry’s brightly shining eyes.

“My name is Harry. If we’re going to start over, I think we should start over properly.” He held out his hand, reminiscent of ten years previous, when Draco had made the same gesture.

“Harry,” Draco repeated, testing the word out on his tongue. Giving Harry a genuine smile, he decided he liked this idea very much. “Draco, nice to meet you.”

Harry grinned back as they shook hands. “So... Any ideas on where we should start on this thing?” He indicated the mass of paperwork piled on the table in the living room.

“Mmm, actually, I might have a bit of an idea.”

With that, they spent the next few hours working out the plan of their assignment, which parts they would have to do together, which parts could be done separately, and what they each would have to teach the other for them both to get the highest marks possible. The point of the assignment was that they had to work together to get top marks, so the Aurors had to be able to teach the Healers some simple self-defence spells that they might find themselves having to use in the emergency wards of the hospital, and for the Healers to teach the Aurors some basic Healing spells, for when they got injured in the field. By the time they had worked it all out, it lacked only half an hour before Pansy was due to arrive. Draco was quite satisfied with both their progress, and the fact that he had been able to control his embarrassing reaction to Harry’s presence. They had worked out the spells they had to teach each other, and had arranged to meet back at Draco’s flat at 12 the next afternoon. Harry drained the rest of his whiskey and let out a groan as he stood up from the chair.

“Sore?” Draco questioned.

“Yeah, we’ve been working on stronger shield charms this week, and I keep messing up. I can cast a really strong shield, but it isn’t a permanent one, just one to reflect spells cast at me or others. The ones they want us to learn are slightly more permanent, and are much more difficult to cast, let alone to keep up, and mine keep failing.” He grinned as he rubbed a hand over his lower back. “Ron keeps knocking me on my arse, in other words.”

Draco grinned back, very much enjoying having someone other than Pansy to talk to and joke with. “I, uh, I might be able to show you a simple charm to help with the pain, if you like,” he offered almost shyly, not meeting Harry’s eyes.

“You could? You would?” Enthusiasm was evident in Harry’s voice as Draco stood up from his chair as well.

“Well, yeah, it’s one of the basic spells I should teach you anyway, and if it would help at the moment, then why not?” Draco moved slowly towards where Harry stood on the other side of the small living room.

“Basic, as in it’s not going to take me forever to learn? Because I’m not sure I’m really up to learning something complicated after studying for the past five and a bit hours.”

Draco grinned, surprised at how easily they had fallen into conversation after they had finished what they had to talk about. “Yes, it’s the first thing they teach us in class and the easiest thing you’ll have to learn for this assignment.” He moved to stand beside Harry, allowing his professional manner to slide over him like a well-fitting cloak. All Healers had the same demeanour, and Draco had learnt it early on, as it gave the impression that he was a hell of a lot more confident in both himself and his abilities than he felt he ever really could be. “Is this where it hurts?” He placed his right hand on Harry’s lower back.

“Mmm, a little further down,” Harry grabbed Draco’s wrist and moved his hand down his back to rest at the very top of his tailbone.

Draco’s left hand trembled with the contact and he automatically rested it on Harry’s shoulder to cover it. “Weasley really has been knocking you on your arse, hasn’t he?” Desire swirled through Draco’s stomach as Harry’s deep chuckle vibrated through the air. He took a deep breath. “Ok, so the spell is _Sanare_. It’s a minor Healing spell that is used for aching muscles and sometimes bruised bones. What you do is focus your energy on your hand – it has to be your wand hand, by the way – say the incantation and your magic will do the rest. Since it’s such a simple spell, after the first few times you use it, you should be able to cast it silently, and, obviously, it’s wandless.” With that Draco muttered the spell. He focussed on his hand, which began to glow warm as his magic Healed the bruise that was forming and the sore muscles.

“Oh, Merlin, Draco! That feels so good,” Harry moaned as the spell finished.

Draco’s traitorous body chose that exact moment to twitch into life. The pooling desire finally reached its intended destination, and Draco felt himself start to grow hard. He chuckled to cover up his embarrassment, and moved over to kneel at the table in the living room, playing with the neat stack of his paperwork. He thanked his lucky stars that he had pulled baggy jeans out of the wardrobe that morning. He jumped and gasped as Harry suddenly appeared at his side: he had not heard him move at all.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Harry winced. “One of the first things they teach us is to move silently at all times. I guess it’s become a habit.” He shrugged. “Look, I wanted to ask, would you let me test this out?”

“Test it out? What, on me?” Draco frowned, knowing that letting Harry touch any part of him while he was in this state would be a bad idea. The fact that he had been desperately craving Harry’s touch since he had walked through Draco’s front door that morning served as further proof. He levered himself up into the lounge behind him, making sure his arousal wasn’t evident as he settled back into the cushions.

“I’ve seen you grimacing when you stand, Draco, you can’t hide the fact that your legs hurt. Besides,” he added quickly as Draco opened his mouth to object. “You should be here the first time I try it, right? In case I screw it up?”

Draco wished Harry had chosen a better word than “screw” to describe what he knew he was going to allow him to do. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “Ok, if you think you can, then go right ahead.”

Harry grinned as he slid across the carpet to kneel in front of Draco. He placed his right hand on Draco’s left calf. “Is here alright?”

Draco nodded mutely, not trusting himself to speak at that moment. His pulse had quickened the second Harry had touched him and it was taking all his concentration to prevent himself from panting.

“Ok, so, I focus on my hand,” Harry muttered, almost as if to himself. “And say _Sanare_... Holy shit!” Harry scrambled backwards away from Draco, pressing his back up against the wall across the room.

“What, what?” Draco leapt to his feet, wand in hand, eyes scanning the room for whatever had scared Harry. He glared down at the prone man in front of him as he heard Harry’s soft chuckle. He dropped his wand onto the table, which he figured he must have Summoned non-verbally as he shot to his feet. “Very funny, Potter. This is your idea of a joke?” One good thing about being scared shitless, Draco thought, was that it very effectively killed the mood. He didn’t think he would be able to get it up now even if Potter begged him to.

“Whoa, whoa, Draco, slow down. I’m sorry.” Harry held his hands up in front of him in an ‘I surrender’ gesture. “I’m not laughing at you, it was more relief than anything else, I think.” He scrubbed a hand through his messy hair as he climbed to his feet. “When I said the spell, you... well, you glowed green!”

Relief ran through Draco, washing away the hurt and confusion. “Of course! You wouldn’t have seen the net yet, would you?” He said it low, almost to himself as realisation dawned on him. He sank back down onto the lounge and indicated Harry should sit as well. “Every human being has a green glow about them when you cast a Healing charm; the deeper the green, the healthier the person. If there are patches on them that are lighter green, that means they are in pain, the lighter the green, the more pain they are in.”

“Then, that green glow around you is... natural?” Harry’s brow creased as he tried to understand.

“Yes, Harry, my legs would be a slightly lighter green than the rest of me, but the green glow is natural.”

Draco watched as the hard lines of Harry’s body relaxed as he settled down in front of him again. “Ok, so let me try this again.” Harry’s hand slid up Draco’s calf, he frowned again as he concentrated and said the spell. “Oh, wow, that’s so weird!”

Draco smiled to himself as he watched comprehension cross Harry’s features. He nodded as Harry silently asked for permission to move to his other calf. Warmth spread through Draco as he watched Harry Healing the pain in his legs. His fingers twitched with the effort it took to prevent himself from running them through Harry’s jet black hair, and he had to hold back a gasp as Harry moved onto his knees without even looking up to confirm if it was alright with Draco. After he had Healed both of Draco’s calves and knees, Harry raised himself up on his knees and looked deeply into Draco’s eyes.

“I know this is going to sound weird, Draco, but I can see you’re hurting and I think I want to try the spell non-verbally.”

His hand slid slowly from its position on Draco’s knee up his denim-clad thigh. A slight frown creased between Harry eyes, which never broke their contact with Draco’s as Harry’s hand grew warm, Healing the aching muscles beneath it. Draco’s tongue flashed out to wet his dry lips as Harry’s hand moved across to his other thigh. His pulse quickened as Harry’s eyes flickered down to stare at his lips. He was just wondering if it was at all possible that he could be lucky enough for Harry Potter to have even the slightest crush on him, when there was a loud bang from the front hallway. The two wizards jumped, yanked nastily out of the trance they had apparently both been under.

“Draco,” Pansy’s horrible screech of a voice sounded as she made her way down the hall.

Draco felt his eyes widen in horror as he looked at the clock over his mantelpiece. It showed 5:36. Pansy had been due to arrive at 5:30 and he had completely forgotten about it. Nearly pushing Harry out of his way, Draco stood and made his way over to the doorway leading to the hall, just as Pansy appeared in it.

“Draco, I rang the doorbell twice, how could you not hear...” She trailed off as she got a look at Harry standing in the middle of the living room. “Oh, ho! This is good, Draco, real nice.”

Draco held his hands up in front of him in what he hoped desperately was a calming gesture. “Pansy, can we talk in the hall, maybe?”

Pansy’s eyes glinted as she looked between the two wizards. “Oh, no, Draco, I think we should talk right here, in front of him. What,” she taunted as Draco grabbed her shoulders to turn her back down the hall. “Don’t want ickle Harry knowing about you, do you? If only the boys could see you now! The great Draco Malfoy, so desperate for a fuck he has to resort to old schoolboy crushes!” She spat viciously as Draco steered her to the front door.

“Pansy, please,” he begged quietly, knowing Harry must have heard what she said. Dread was making his limbs slow and heavy, making it difficult to get a good grip on her shoulder.

“This is beyond pathetic, Draco. I knew you were down on yourself, but to stoop so low as to fucking Harry Potter of all people? I didn’t think even you could manage to be this worthless,” her eyes sparkled as she saw this one hit home. She knew exactly how and where to hit Draco to cause his safely constructed world to come crashing down around him. She knew that his tiny threads of self-confidence were being held up by three people in his life: her, and his parents. She took a deep breath before delivering what she obviously hoped was a killing blow. “Even better, wait until your parents find out you’ve been touched by a filthy half-blood, especially the one that had Lucius thrown in Azkaban!” With that, she turned and flounced out, not waiting to see the effects of her words on Draco.

The world spun as what felt like a black hole opened up in Draco’s stomach. He slid slowly down the wall as the world shattered into tiny pieces around him. He wrapped his arms tightly around his legs as pain lanced through his head

“Draco?”

Draco squeezed his eyes shut against the pain and tears threatening to start flowing down his face. Harry had heard everything Pansy had said, he was sure of it.

“Draco, talk to me!”

He knew Harry would never have wanted to be with him in the first place, but during the day he had thought that maybe they had a chance at being friends at least. All that had gone down the drain with a few simple words.

“Please look at me!”

And his parents! How would they react when Pansy told them what he had been up to? He knew she was bound to soon enough. Despair gripped Draco’s heart as sobs shook his body. No, not sobs; Draco was beyond crying over this. He lifted his head. Harry was kneeling in front of him, gently shaking his shoulders.

“Draco, finally! You scared the hell out of me!” Worry flashed through Harry’s wide-open eyes, followed swiftly by relief as he saw Draco understood what he had said. “Oh, no you don’t,” he added as Draco made to rest his head back against his knees.

Shame rushed its way through Draco as Harry’s fingers caught his chin, forcing him to look him in the eyes. Unable to meet them without pain, Draco squeezed his eyes shut tight again and shook his long hair in front of his face, trying desperately to block out the image of the beautiful man in front of him: the one he wanted more than anything else, but could now never have.

“Draco,” Harry murmured softly, the fingers of his free hand brushing the hair gently out of Draco’s face. “Please don’t hide from me.” A thumb traced its way slowly over Draco’s eyelashes before moving to cup his face. Draco leaned into the warm, strong hand and finally allowed himself to succumb to the tears that had been threatening ever since he had heard Pansy’s voice in the hall. “Shh, it’s alright, she’s gone. You’re safe.”

Draco offered Harry a very small, watery smile as he opened his eyes a crack. “Harry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry, I...” His voice broke on another sob as pain lanced through his head again.

“No, no, Draco, don’t, please. That bitch isn’t your fault. Everything’s fine now... Will you please look at me?” Harry’s voice was low and urgent.

Draco took a deep, shuddery breath and braced himself as best he could to see the mocking in Harry’s beautiful green eyes. His eyes fluttered open to see that the other wizard had moved closer to him, close enough for Draco to feel Harry’s hot, whiskey-sweetened breath rushing over his lips as he leant in. The kiss was soft, sweet and innocent. Draco’s skin flamed where Harry’s lips brushed gently against his. He responded immediately as both hope and desire began to pool painfully in his chest again. He gasped and broke away from Harry as sharp pain again pierced his head. Harry’s kiss had left his head spinning. _No, not my head_ , he thought as the edges of his vision started to go black. _The rest of the world..._

Draco awoke a few minutes later, slightly confused as to where he was and how he got there. His bedroom ceiling swan into foggy view above him as he blinked tears of pain from his eyes. Nausea hit him like a freight train as he struggled to sit up and he just managed to lean over the edge of his bed before bringing up his lunch. A bucket had appeared in front of him just in time to prevent him vomiting all over his bedroom carpet and he felt a warm hand rubbing slow circles on his lower back. The hand stayed on his back, comforting him as his body heaved. The bucket disappeared as it looked like Draco had finished bringing up his stomach contents, and reappeared again, clean.

“Rinse,” Harry’s deep voice commanded. He held out a glass of water, which Draco took gratefully. He rinsed his mouth out and spat the water into the waiting bucket.

“Harry,” Draco croaked. He raised his head, needing to see Harry’s eyes, but, at the same time, worried of finding a look of disgust in them. His breath caught as all he saw was sympathy and a flash of something else he couldn’t quite recognise.

“It’s ok, Draco. You’ve got a tension migraine, a really bad one from what I’ve seen. We’ve had to learn to treat them in class, as we’ve all had mild ones over the past two years. You’ve never had them before?”

Draco made to shake his head, but the pain lancing behind his eyes stole his breath. “No,” he whispered as his head fell forward.

Harry wrapped his arm protectively around Draco’s shaking shoulders, holding him tightly as he trembled. “Shh, Draco, it’ll be ok,” he soothed. “Here, this potion will take the pain away and help you sleep.”

Draco obediently tipped his head back and swallowed the vile potion Harry wafted beneath his nose. He forced himself not to gag as it slid down his throat, leaving a bitter aftertaste. “‘S disgusting,” he murmured as he felt it taking effect immediately. He sagged into Harry’s strong arms, the oaky smell of Harry’s aftershave the last thing he remembered before slipping into blissfully dreamless sleep.

*~*

Draco awoke slowly the next morning, feeling more relaxed than he had in years. He moaned aloud as yesterday rushed back into his mind. Curling into a tight ball, Draco squeezed his eyes shut against the hollow feeling of loneliness threatening to consume him from the inside out. Yes, Harry had been kind enough to look after him yesterday after he had collapsed, but Draco knew it was too much to ask for him to ever want anything to do with him again. His heart raced in panic as he heard a soft voice whisper “Nox” from over near his wardrobe. A strong hand landed on Draco’s shoulder as he made to sit up.

“Hang on a second, there,” Harry sat himself down on the edge of Draco’s bed, a small smile crossing his lips as he saw the look of astonishment on Draco’s face. “What, you thought I’d left?”

“I... I th-thought,” Draco cleared his throat and tried again. “I honestly have no idea what I thought, Harry. After what happened yesterday, most men would have run screaming, not stayed the night on the floor of my room.”

“Well, I’m apparently not ‘most men’,” Harry grinned, causing butterflies to flutter to life in Draco’s stomach once again. “I, er, do have something to confess, though.” Harry glanced down to where his hands were balled in his lap.

Draco tried to quell the sudden flash of fear at the guilty look on Harry’s face. “’Confess’?” He hated that his voice was barely audible, but there was nothing he could really do about that at the moment.

“Yeah, I... Draco, I went to speak with your parents,” he said in a rush, eyes still on his now tightly clenched hands.

“My... My parents?” Draco’s brow furrowed as confusion washed the fear out of his system. He sat up slowly, rubbing a hand through his matted blond hair. “Well, that must have been... an experience for you.”

Harry looked up sharply, humour gleaming in his eyes, and started to laugh. Not just the deep chuckles Draco had been treated to yesterday, but full-blown laughter. It proved infectious, as Draco found himself beginning to laugh along with him. Arms wrapped around his aching stomach and doubled over as he laughed, Draco realised this was the best he had felt in years. He fell back against the pillows, wiping his watering eyes on his sleeve.

“What on Earth possessed you to go see my parents?”

Harry collapsed onto the other pillow beside Draco, his head propped up on his hand as he gazed down at him. “Well, it was weird that you, as a Healer, hadn’t seen the signs of a tension migraine coming on, so I needed to know if it could have been something a bit worse than that.” He grinned. “Of course, the look on your father’s face when I stepped out of his floo was priceless.”

Draco couldn’t help the giggles that escaped him as he pictured the exact look Lucius would have had. “Eyebrows drawn together, lips pursed, back poker straight and arms crossed across his chest?”

“Oh, seen that look before, have you? May I ask exactly what their golden-haired child could have possibly done to warrant a Lucius Malfoy death glare?”

Draco turned to look Harry in the eyes, trying to gauge exactly how much he could trust him. He gave up after all he realised he was doing was staring into the seemingly never-ending green depths of Harry eyes. He sighed. “I came out to them last year.”

Harry sobered immediately. “Draco, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean...”

“No, no, don’t be. It’s over and done with now, and they both accept me just as I am. Besides,” he added shyly. “My being gay has turned out quite well for the both of us over the past 24 hours, hasn’t it?”

Harry didn’t respond, but he didn’t have to, not in words.


End file.
